Increased community and stakeholder engagement

Cooperation and engagement with our tenants and other stakeholders is an essential part of our sustainability strategy. We firmly believe that we can achieve the most by working with all our clients and other stakeholders, sharing ideas and devising innovative solutions to the challenges we all face.

Tenant engagement and satisfaction

The Retail Fund conducts a bi-annual tenant satisfaction survey, which provides insight into the satisfaction of tenants and highlights potential improvements. We discussed the results with our property managers and agreed targets, all aimed at further improving tenant satisfaction. The overall score in 2017 was 6.5 (2015: 5.8) and the participation rate was 54% (2015: 49%). After a slightly decrease of tenant satisfaction in 2015 this year’s survey has shown a substantial increase. All aspects of tenant satisfaction resulted in a much more positive appreciation. The key results of most recent survey (2017) are:

217 tenants responded; response rate of 54% (2015: 49%)

Average satisfaction substantial increased to 6.5 (2015: 5.8)

Green leases

The Retail Fund continued its Green Lease initiative in 2017, adding 19 Green Leases to take the total to 42 Green Leases in the portfolio. These lease agreements incorporate sustainability clauses, with the aim of increasing and enhancing the information exchange between the Retail Fund and its tenants. This in turn creates opportunities to improve environmental performance. Combined with the installation of smart meters at tenant level, the Fund sees this as the first step towards more far-reaching green leases in the future.

Procurement

To promote and increase sustainable procurement, we launched a project with IVBN (Association of Institutional Property Investors in the Netherlands) and a number of fellow fund managers to engage and assess the Fund’s suppliers using a sustainability web tool. Current and future suppliers will be assessed on their sustainable commitments, policies and behaviour. Bouwinvest has Service Level Agreements with its property managers, who are assessed each quarter on topics related to administrative management, technical management (including sustainability), commercial management and tenant satisfaction.

Safety

The Retail Fund applies ‘Bewuste Bouwers’ sustainable building criteria to all new-build projects and redevelopments. These criteria ensure that the contractor deals with the concerns of local residents, and addresses safety and environmental issues during the construction phase.

Pilot smart real estate management and maintenance

In 2017, the Fund conducted a successful pilot with an online management concept for the effective management and maintenance of properties. The tool helps the Fund to register, schedule, manage and monitor standard inspections and legal inspections, as well as evacuation exercises, certifications and insurance policies. The tool helps the Fund to reduce its strict liability and total costs of ownership. It can lead to savings of up to 15%, while minimising user costs, maintaining the quality and value of the properties and preventing unwanted vacancies. The Fund is planning to continue the roll-out of the tool in 2018 .